Adohitza of the Temple of Constellations
Adohitza of the Temple of Constellations The town of Berkton was often considered to be one of the worst villages in all of Grangathor to reside in or visit. This was not due to crime, or a corrupt government, or even the occasional dragon attack that always seemed to end with the village elder becoming dinner. No, it was because of its inability to support life. Every day the people would pray for water, but they only received beautiful clear skies. Every night they would pray for the sun to set, but it would stay in the sky, mocking them. Anyone who tried to leave the village would only return a few hours later, ill with a plague that would ultimately take their life. The people of this village were stuck. Year after year, generation after generation, they were barely surviving, always hungry, and always thirsty. But this all changed with the birth of Adohitza. As a small child, Adohitza was gifted in the study of Awareness magic. This was first observed by the village farmers, who were intrigued by how young Adohitza's crops seemed to do better than everyone else's (even if they were still measly in size). When ever he wrestled with the other kids, Adohitza never seemed to take a hit and managed to strike and take down anyone he faced with grace and ease. Once he was old enough, he left the village farms and joined the town's hunting group, where he always knew where dinner might be found. One night, Adohitza had a vision of a man up on a hill looking down on the village, looking down on him. In his left hand were incense, and in his right was a black tome with a golden sun engraved on its cover. The man's eyes began to darken into a void, and as he did so the sun above the village grew in size and temperature. Adohitza woke up as he began to cough blood. Adohitza may have been young, but he knew what was going on. While he never physically left the boundaries of the village, his mind wandered from it, and he was marked for death. The man on the hill had cursed him, taking away his ability to speak, and covering his hands in blisters to prevent him from writing or wielding a weapon. Word went around quick, and many of the townsfolk began to gather around his bedside to say their farewells to Adohitza. To them he was a blessing, a savior. While they did not understand the full potential of his gift, the small surplus of food that he brought into the village made living in the hell-hole that was Berkton just a little bit more manageable. It was expected that he lie in bed to await his end, to choke on the blood in his throat until it he finally runs out of energy to gasp for air and drowns in it, like all the others who succumbed to the plague. But this was not the case. Wobbling as he did so, Adohitza stumbled out of bed, grabbed the flask of water by his bedside, and began to walk towards the hill just outside of the village boundaries. He fell many times on his way towards the border. Each time he fell he landed on his blistered hands, causing him to scream in agony as he did so, over and over and over again. Yet to everyone's surprise, he rose to his feet and continued to wobble to the hill. The climb to the top took him the better part of the never ending day, for as he climbed the hill it began to spiral upwards forming a mountain. As he ascended the now unfamiliar mountain that rested just outside his village he noticed something peculiar about the sun, it grew larger the higher he climbed, and warmer every time he looped around the spiral. The closer he got to the top, the brighter it got, and as he reached the summit he could feel the skin under his scales boiling. At the top was the old man who he had seen in his dream. He was wrapped in a silver cloak which radiated the same intense light as the sun. He turned to face Adohitza, closed his eyes, and disappeared in a blinding flash. Stunned and blinded, Adohitza was unsure of what to think, at least until he felt a growing presence above his head. From the very sun itself flew the old man, descending on Adohitza, prepared to take him out with a single unexpected strike. But Adohitza sensed this and knew how to react. Right as the man's sandaled foot made the slightest of contact with Adohitza's chest he threw his blistered left fist into the old man's knee, shattering the kneecap and Adohitza's own plagued hand in the process. Through the pain the young boy threw punch after punch into the man who sat off guard and defenseless on the ground. Every time his hand connected with the robe you could hear the sound of his hand shattering as it flattened into a patty of decaying flesh. The old man gasped for air, as did Adohitza, and in a cruel twist of fate, Adohitza removed the flask from his neck, took off the lid, and shoved it in the mans throat. He was going to drown, just like the cursed Adohitza. And he did. After his lungs gave their final attempt for air, the old man stopped struggling. With the little remaining energy that the the young hero had, he rolled onto his back and stared into the sky, ready to accept his fate. His hands mutilated, his lungs struggling to siphon air through the blood quickly flooding them, the only thing that kept him from closing his eyes was the faint pitter patter of water around him. The large sun that hung over the village began to fade away, and it quickly started to rain from the clear night sky that fell over the village of Berkton for the first time in generations. The boy looked up into the heavens and could see the stars for the first time in his life, and so could his parents, and so could their's. And in the constellations Adohitza could see the future, past, and present clearly for the first time. He saw the formation of the world as it was carved into its own little pocket of space. He could see the day that life began to walk on Grangathor, and the bloody conflicts the different races endured. He could see the stars forming in the heavens above, and each heroes passing that forced them to take their place among them. And finally he could see his own place amongst the stars; his final resting place. He closed his eyes and soared into the sky, racing towards the heavens. Finally able to climb the mountain in order to view the stars, a great elemental caster happened across Adohitza's corpse. She knew who the young Saurian was and what he had done, for the stars told her. With her staff digging into the ground, a great temple sprouted from the earth, encasing his body in a tomb, along with the powerful tome for which he would watch over for all eternity. A small skylight opens every night right above his tomb, allowing starlight to shine over his body, and giving those who seek counseling a look at his constellation. His mind and spirit fully unlocked, he can see the entirety of time not just in this world, but in all, and is willing to share portions of his knowledge with those who he knows have selfless intentions at heart. Those that seek his knowledge for their own advantages are often given what they seek as well, and then some more knowledge, and some more, and some more, until the person is driven insane. This kind of power has allowed the city of Berkton to prosper, especially in the trade market. While the people are very wealthy thanks to Adohitza's help, they do not squander such fortunes on self-indulgences, but rather put it back into the city to help it grow and stay protected from the occasional dragon attack. Due to this high level of selflessness, a village elder has not been swooped away by a dragon in decades, and many explorers have began to rank Berkton as one of a few must see cities.